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Abstract

In the shot put throw, the primary power is generated in the form of ground reaction forces as a result of action of the lower extremities (Coh, Stuhec, & Supej, 2008). The purpose of this study was to determine how the ground reaction force and ground contact time during the delivery phase of rotational shot put relates to the predicted distance of the throw. This will allow us to determine the optimal approach of force application for maximum throwing distance (Linthorne, 2001). Eight male subjects were used in this study (age 23 ± 4 y; body mass 123 ± 14 kg; height 190 ± 4 cm; all right handed). Subjects threw three attempts in a custom-built shot put ring where two force plates were located where both feet were expected to land in the delivery. The throws were also filmed using two high-speed cameras at 120 frames/s. These videos gave us the speed, angle and height of release for predicting distance thrown. Results: Peak right leg force during delivery was correlated with throwing distance (R2 = 0.450, p = 0.001). Also, left leg ground time was significant with predicted throwing distance (R² = 0.516, p < 0.001). Because increased strength leads to greater throwing distances (Zaras et al., 2013) and peak right leg force was significant, it would be useful to perform proper strength training exercises that can increase a thrower's ability to increase the peak ground forces during a throw. If the thrower can produce greater peak force into the ground with the right leg during the delivery phase, this should cause the thrower to come off their left leg sooner, resulting in greater speed of release and thus distance thrown.